1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a separator for separating solid particles from water or other liquids.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Hydrocyclone separators are well known for the separation of solids from a liquid such as water utilising centrifugal force to facilitate this separation on the basis of solid size and density. Efficient separation may be accomplished down to very small sizes eg. less than 5 micron with relatively dense solids eg. sand having a specific gravity of about 2.5. However the separation efficiency is reduced when hydrocyclone separators are used for separating solid particles having specific gravity less than 2.5. Thus for example, hydrocyclone separators may be used on oil production platforms to separate sand, scale and corrosion products from produced water effectively, but cannot be used as effectively for separating small organic matter and plankton from sea water. To separate such solids from sea water it is current practice to use mechanical strainers or filters consisting of mesh or slotted elements. Separated solid particles are backwashed from the elements periodically but during severe high solids loading (eg. in planktonic bloom conditions) the strainers or filters may need to be continuously backwashed. Elements used in such conditions are found to be difficult to clean because they need very high local backwashing velocities.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a separator which does not suffer from the above disadvantages.